


Dreams of a Fallen Star

by Ambs_Writes



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, As They Appear - Freeform, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Gen, Grounder Clarke Griffin, Grounder Octavia Blake, Grounder Politics, Grounder Raven Reyes, Politics, Tagged Relationships Are Endgame, War, clarke raven and octavia sent to earth early, more characters will be added later, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambs_Writes/pseuds/Ambs_Writes
Summary: The Ark is failing and the Council is desperate to keep control of the last of humanity. In a desperate bid to keep lead engineer Jake Griffin in control, the Council elects to send three of their citizens to Earth in an effort to determine survivability. One of those citizens happens to be Jake's only child, Clarke.Joined by young mechanic Raven Reyes and the girl who was never meant to be born, Octavia Blake, Clarke is sent to Earth with instructions to survive and make contact with the Ark so her parents and everyone else can follow her down to the ground. When the landing goes wrong and the three young girls discover that all of their beliefs about Earth were wrong, their plan is thrown into chaos.With the shadow of the mountain looming over the woods and whispers of Azgeda spies lingering in the trees, it will take the collaboration of Clarke, Octavia, Raven, and Heda Lexa, as well as the rest of the grounders, to ensure that when fire falls from the sky again, it will not be the fires of war.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Luna/Raven Reyes, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Octavia Blake & Clarke Griffin & Raven Reyes, Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Comments: 16
Kudos: 95





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hey, hello there. Yes, I know it is 2020 but if you ask me there's never a wrong time to write a Clexa fanfic. This is my second attempt at writing a Clexa fanfiction and I am very excited to share it all with y'all. Now, this first chapter is actually just a short prelude where we will be flashing forward to right before the happily ever after. The real story begins in chapter two, which I will be posting directly after this. Following this, the plan is tentatively set for 1 update a week, probably on Sunday. My goal is for each chapter to be between 5,000-7,000 words. 
> 
> The premise of this story is that Clarke, Raven, and Octavia are all sent to the ground about a year before the 100 are in canon. The first 8-10 chapters following this prelude will explore life on the ground for our three girls and then after that, we will get into the meat of the story: war. 
> 
> If my rambling hasn't bored you enough already, I hope you enjoy!

The privacy of her chambers was welcome, the quiet even more so. Negotiations and meetings had been carrying on for the better part of the last week which wasn’t surprising so much as it was annoying. Annoying, yet necessary. Their way of life was changing. 

Truthfully, Clarke knew that the changes coming to the Kongeda were something that had begun four summers ago when Clarke arrived on Earth. These were changes that she had been working to prepare her people for. These were changes that so many of her people had said would be impossible. The Kongeda does not accept change easily. The way things are is the way things are, there is no need to change it. Needless to say, Clarke’s journey on the ground had been nothing but an uphill battle, literally in some cases. 

Clarke was of the mind to believe that there was nothing wrong with fighting an uphill battle, especially when one does not have to fight that battle alone. 

Surely, if it had been just Clarke pushing for these radical changes, nothing would have changed. If Clarke had been fighting alone, there would still be a mountain looming over the Trikru forests, and her people would be fighting a war on at least three fronts. There would have been so many deaths that even she would have felt powerless. There are a million possibilities, Clarke thinks, that everything good have gone so wrong from the moment she was pulled out of the flaming wreckage of her drop ship to where she sits now, on an ornately carved stool before a polished mirror with her skin tanned and her sun-kissed hair pulled into elaborate braids. She has the beginnings of her warpaint applied already, sweeping back from the corners of her eyes in crisp, pointed lines. Clarke pauses, considering how she wants to proceed with her paint today. She wants it to be different. 

After all, it’s not every day that she gets to marry the love of her life. 

A knock on her door interrupts Clarke's thought and she calls for whoever is there to enter. 

“We’re almost ready for you,” Octavia steps inside the room with Raven right behind her. They are both dressed in the finest leathers, Octavia’s with the markings of Trikru and Raven’s of the softer Flokru variation. 

“You look hot Griff,” Raven leads the way over so she and Octavia are standing behind Clarke at the mirror. “Hotpants won’t know what hit her.” 

“Have you seen her?” Clarke asks. She’s finished the paint on her face now. 

“For a second on our way here,” Octavia rests her hand on Clarke’s leather-clad shoulder. “She looks beautiful.” 

“She always does,” Clarke let the smile that always wanted to form at the thought of her lover pull at the corners of her mouth. “Did she look nervous?” 

“No, but we can never tell with her unless she lets us,” Raven shrugs. “You’re the only one who can see past Heda’s mask.” 

“Are you nervous?” Octavia asks as Clarke stands up, checking her braids in the mirror before she turns to her two best friends. 

“No,” Clarke let out a soft laugh. “I’ve been waiting for this day for years, we both have.” 

“Well then,” a knock at the door signaled that they were waiting for Clarke in the hall just as Octavia spoke. “No sense in making you wait any longer.” 

“Let’s get you married.” Raven agreed, taking one of Clarke’s hands in her own while Octavia took the other. 

They stepped into the hallway together and were immediately surrounded by Clarke’s personal guards. Clarke smiled at the two extra additions who took their places just in front of Clarke herself. 

“Shouldn’t you be with Lexa?” Clarke asked the taller of the two additions to her group. Anya offered Clarke a small smile that faded just as soon as it came. 

“The war may be over but tensions are still high. She doesn’t want to take any chances when it comes to your safety.” 

“One day, she’ll remember that you’re a badass warrior on your own,” Raven mumbled to Clarke, who laughed slightly. 

“She does know that, she’s partially responsible for training me,” Clarke remembers her early days on earth fondly now, though at the time she would have been happy to be anywhere else. Funny how things change. “She’s just protective, with good reason.” 

Raven quiets at the soft reminder. Raven knows better than most what Lexa was like during that unforgettable time. It’s not something that she’d ever be able to forget and on some level, she’s grateful for that. There’s a comfort in knowing that the woman her best friend is about to marry is worthy of that. 

“We also volunteered,” the second addition states proudly. “Or rather I volunteered for us.” 

“I’m glad you did,” Clarke smiles at the young warrior. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see you before you left for your trials.” 

“I wouldn’t miss the day my sister is getting married,” Tris smiled at Clarke, their eyes on the same level now that Tris has grown into her prime as a young warrior. She just passed her 16th summer, she was only twelve when they met. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Clarke pulls the young warrior into a brief hug as their group stops walking just outside the ornate doors that lead to Heda’s throne room. Tris hugs her back tightly and then steps into her position next to Anya. Raven and Octavia let go of Clarke’s hands and she folded them together over her stomach, waiting. 

A long moment of silence passes before there is movement on the other side of the door. Raven looks at Clarke out of the corner of her eye. 

“Last chance to back out.” She says softly. Clarke shakes her head and smiles. 

“Not a chance.” 

“Had to ask,” Raven smiles at her. 

“Thanks, Raven,” Clarke reaches for her hand again and squeezes softly. “For everything.” 

“That’s what family does,” Raven returns the pressure on her hand and then lets go just as the ornate wooden doors are pulled open from the inside. 

With a deep breath, Clarke steps forward alone, walking with her head high and spirit soaring, into the arms of her destiny. 


	2. A Falling Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go into the heart of the story. This chapter begins roughly four years before the prelude of chapter 1. 
> 
> Also, this has not been beta read so if you find any mistakes, please kindly point them out to me. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Clarke, wake up. C’mon sweetie, we gotta go. Clarke, I need you to come with me.” 

“Dad?” Clarke came awake quickly, much quicker than normal due to the pressure of her father’s hand gently shaking her shoulder. “What’s going on?” 

“There isn’t enough time to explain,” Jake shook his head mournfully. It seemed to be the plight of everything he had tried to do recently. There was never enough time to do the things he needed to do, or it was never the right time to say what he wanted to say. “Get up and get dressed. You’re getting out of here.” 

“What are you talking about?” Clarke asked, more alert by the second as she took in the sight of her father. He looked tired and old like he’d aged ten years in the past month. The lines on his forehead were more present than ever, the light shade of his hair slowly turning to grey under the weight of the enormous pressure on his shoulders. 

Jake had been working on fixing the life support problem almost non-stop since he discovered the error a little over a month ago. Each day he returned to their home exhausted and with the light in his eyes growing dimmer and dimmer. Clarke had sat up with him, tried to figure out a way that she could help despite her limited engineering knowledge. They had spent hours talking the problem to death and back, many times they were joined by Abby, Clarke’s mother, after her shift in medical and yet they were no closer to discovering a solution. At least, a viable solution. 

There had been a comment one night, late enough that it was closer to early morning than night, about the possibility of going to earth. They wouldn’t have to worry about running out of oxygen on earth, right? No, but they would have other things to worry about, namely radiation. There were at least another 100 years before the earth would be survivable again. That’s what they had always been told. 

Of course, they were also told that the Ark would be able to survive for at least 200 hundred years and yet it was falling apart at only half of that. 

“Clarke, there isn’t time. We have to go, now.” Jake was standing in the door to her room, his voice insistent and his body tense. 

Clarke rose from her bed and dressed quickly, barely having time to lace up her boots before her father was gently taking a hold of her arm and pulling her towards the door. 

“Dad, what is going on?” Clarke asked as they stepped into the quiet hall. The only sound around was the ever-present hum of the machine responsible for keeping all of them alive. It must have been late, the buzz of the Ark quiet with sleep. 

“The life support system is failing,” Jake returned in a whisper. Clarke furrowed her brow in confusion. 

“I know, we’ve known that for a month,” Clarke kept her voice low to match her father as they moved quietly through the halls of the Ark. They were headed in the direction of engineering. 

“No, Clarke, the problem is only getting bigger.” Jake pushed Clarke back against the wall suddenly as footsteps were heard on the other end of the hall. Jake held a finger to his lips to signal that Clarke should remain quiet as they waited for the guard to pass. “The Ark is failing and failing fast. We’re running out of time and options.” 

“Okay,” Clarke nodded, none of this information surprising her. “So what are we doing?” 

“We’re not giving up,” Jake brought them both to a stop and Clarke took a moment to look around. They were in engineering, but not in a place that Clarke had been to before. The sublevels of engineering were restricted to all but the most important engineers on the Ark. Her father was one of two people allowed access. 

Before Clarke could question him further, Jake knocked on the door in a distinct rhythm and waited. A moment later, the door was unlocked and pulled open from the inside. 

“Took you long enough,” an unfamiliar voice said as Clarke was pulled inside. 

“Had to wait out a patrol,” Jake nodded at the person waiting who had opened the door and pulled Clarke further into the room. There was little in the room to look at other than the people waiting for them there, who turned out to be Abby and a young girl that Clarke had seen before but that she didn’t know the name of. The middle of the room was dominated by a space pod that looked to be large enough for four people at max. “Is it ready?” 

“As ready as it can be,” the girl answered with a casual kind of shrug. “Is she ready?” 

“She will be,” Abby stepped up to her husband and daughter and pulled the latter into a strong hug. 

“Mom, what’s going on?” Clarke asked even as she returned the gesture. Abby hesitated to answer for a moment, looking up at her husband. Jake nodded slightly. “Mom? Dad?” 

“The Council found out about the error in Life Support, they’ve sworn your father to secrecy and they will do anything to make him keep his word. Including keeping him away from you.” Abby swallowed as Clarke looked up at her father. “They’ll be coming to arrest you in the morning to make sure that your father keeps his word.” 

“Okay, so they lock me up until you fix it, right?” Clarke directed her question at Jake, her eyes growing wide as her father shook his head. 

“I can’t fix it, sweetheart,” Jake moved forward and placed his hand on Clarke’s shoulder, covering where Abby’s hand rested as well. “Temporary patches will work for a little while but there’s nothing I can do. The Ark will die.” 

“But that doesn’t mean that we have to die with it,” Abby interjected softly. “Clarke, this is your only chance to escape the Council, and this is our only chance at survival.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Earth, Clarke. We’re sending you to earth.” 

“No, no, earth isn’t safe yet. The radiation,” Clarke shook her head rapidly as both of her parents tried to placate her. From the sidelines where she stood, Raven watched the family interact with interest, keeping an ear on the door for the second passenger they were expecting. 

“We don’t know what to expect on earth, Clarke, that’s why you’ll have these,” Abby held up a silver bracelet. It looked like a bracelet from medical, heavy and metallic, and used for monitoring the vitals of viral patients so the doctors could check them without having to be exposed. “We can monitor your body's reactions to the environment on earth and we’ll know if it’s safe to come down after you.” 

“Clarke, I know this is scary,” Jake squeezed his daughter’s shoulder and pulled her gaze to him. “But this is your chance to live, to really live. On earth.” 

“I can’t do this, Dad. Not alone, I can’t.” Clarke launched herself into her father’s chest, tears falling from her eyes. She understood why her parents were doing this, she even understood why they were sending her down to Earth. They needed Clarke to determine if it was safe, but they needed Jake and Abby to remain on the Ark to convince the Council to let everyone else follow Clarke down to the ground. The Council was harsh by necessity, if they weren’t then the human race wouldn’t have survived this long. Clarke understood that she was being sent away in the name of survival and protection. 

That understanding didn’t make the situation any less terrifying or heartbreaking. 

“You won’t be going alone,” Raven spoke up for the first time, reminding Clarke of the other figure who had been waiting in the room with her mother. Jake pulled out of their embrace as Raven spoke. 

“Clarke, this is Raven Reyes, the best mechanic on the Ark,” Jake introduced them quickly. “She repaired the pod that you’ll be going down in.” 

“Yeah, hey,” Raven offered a short wave. “I’m also one of the other people who’ll be going down with you.” 

“What?” Clarke’s gaze moved back and forth between her parents and her apparent travel companion. 

“If this is going to work, we’ll need some way to establish communication with the Ark. I’m your best chance at getting to do that. If I can make a hundred-year-old pod flyable, I’m pretty sure I can get a radio to work on Earth.” 

“Okay,” Clarke could see the logic in that and she’d be lying if she said that knowing there would be another person going to earth with her wasn’t easing a little bit of her anxiety. “Wait, one of?” 

“It’s a long story,” Abby spoke just as there was another knock on the door to their secret room. “Let’s just say I owed someone a favor that I was never able to repay so I’m making up for it now.” 

Raven had pulled the door open while Abby was giving Clarke her cryptic explanation and two more people slipped into the room. The first was a young man, probably older than Raven so a few years older than Clarke herself followed by a girl who must have been about 16 years old but looked so small she could have been 12. Clarke knew them both by reputation alone, they had been the talk of the Ark a few months ago when the girl was discovered. Bellamy and Octavia Blake, the only set of siblings on the Ark. Judging by the brooding expression on Bellamy’s face and the barest hint of hope on Octavia’s, it seemed that Octavia was the third passenger. 

“If we’re doing this it needs to be now,” Jake looked down at his daughter. “Can you do this Clarke?” 

In a second, all eyes in the room were on Clarke and she could feel her knees buckling under the pressure of their gazes. Octavia, Raven, and Bellamy were all looking at her expectantly but Clarke could see that there was at least a small part of them that was expecting Clarke to back out. Bellamy especially looked dubious of Clarke and she could understand why. Clarke belonged to the privileged sector, she had spent her days in an essentially exclusive lounge playing chess with her best friends while Raven and Bellamy fought for every scrap of respect that they had been given. Octavia had simply been locked away for years only to be discovered and arrested as soon as she stepped out of the safety of her family’s quarters. 

Clarke had been practically spoiled all her life, raised to take after one of her parents in one of the limited positions of power available on the Ark. She knew that she’d been given preferential treatment all her life by virtue of being the child of important people. More than that, Clarke knew that the only reason she was in danger was because the few people who happened to be more powerful than her parents were too scared of losing that power to do anything helpful. Clarke was being asked to do this because there was no one else who could. 

“Clarke?” 

“I can do this,” Clarke nodded once, jerkily, in response to her father’s question. “I can do this.” 

“Okay,” Jake nodded his head with a soft, proud smile. “We need to do this fast. Raven?” 

“The suits are rough but they’ll get the job done. We’ve got a little bit of supplies for when we land, a week of nutrition packs for each of us.” 

“Okay, Clarke, you know what to do on the ground?” Jake asked as he handed Clarke the patchwork astronaut suit that Raven had passed to him. Bellamy was helping Octavia change into a suit of her own while Abby checked over the supplies in the pod situated in the middle of the room. 

“Food, water, shelter,” Clarke repeated the common mantra from Earth Survival Class that she’d heard for so many years. 

“Good okay now,” Abby took over instructions as Jake finished helping his daughter seal up the suit. Before he slipped the gloves over Clarke’s hands, Jake took off the watch that he’d worn for all of Clarke’s life and the majority of his and slipped it onto Clarke’s wrist. He put the glove over Clarke’s hand before she could protest. “The coordinates on the ship are for an old military base hidden in a mountain. If you can get inside, you should be able to survive until we can follow you down.” 

“Should? So there’s a chance that they won’t survive?” Bellamy asked, voice gruff. 

“There’s always a chance they won’t survive,” Abby answered in an even tone. 

“No, we only agreed to this because you said it was the only way that Octavia would live.” Bellamy’s protest seemed to be expected by both Jake and Abbey, who turned to him as one. 

“It is the only way, the only chance she has. If she stays, she’ll be floated the day she turns 18,” Jake’s voice wasn’t cold, but Clarke couldn’t help the shiver that went through her at his words and she saw the effect they had on the two siblings. “Bellamy, this gives her a chance to live.” 

“Bellamy,” Octavia placed a gloved hand on her brother’s shoulder. “I’ll be okay. And I’ll be waiting for you on the ground.” 

“You better be,” Bellamy engulfed his sister in a hug, closing his eyes as Octavia hugged him back. He nodded in Jake’s direction once they pulled apart. 

“Okay, I need everyone to hold out your right wrist,” Abby instructed, moving towards the three travelers with the medical bracelets dangling from her hands. In retrospect, it might have been smarter to put the bracelets on before they’d suited up, but it seems a moot point to mention that now, so Clarke simply holds out her wrist and lets her mother fasten the bracelet on. 

“These will monitor your vitals until we can get communications set up with the radio in the pod,” Abby showed the three of them her tablet screen, where a tri-split screen showed all of their current vitals. Clarke took a moment to appreciate the fact that it wasn’t only she who had a racing heartbeat. 

“It’s time,” Jake said after all three girls had their gloves back on and Abby double-checked that the bracelets were all working correctly. 

“Okay,” Abby nodded and then pulled Clarke into a fierce hug. Clarke hugged her back as best she could in the bulky suit she was wearing. Abby pulled back a moment later. “Okay, the three of you will need to be smart about this, and careful. Find food, water, and shelter as soon as you can and then get in contact with us.” 

“We got this Doc,” Raven said confidently. Clarke wasn’t sure, but she thought she detected a little bit of fear behind the bravado. “Everyone in the pod.” 

Octavia climbed into the pod first after one last hug from her brother, followed quickly by Raven. Clarke also received another round of hugs from her parents both separately and together in what she was sure was the longest embrace of her life. 

“We love you, Clarke,” Abby said, taking the side of Clarke’s helmet in her hands. 

“More than anything.” Jake echoed the sentiment. Clarke nodded her understanding. 

“I love you, too.” 

There wasn’t time for a longer goodbye, as much as Clarke would like it. She knows that there is a high probability that this is the last time she will see both of her parents alive. There are things that Clarke wants to say but she finds that she doesn’t have the words for them anymore. Her parents' continued silence tells her that they feel the same. 

With a heaviness in her heart, Clarke settles herself into the last seat within the pod and straps herself in. 

“This is fucking crazy, isn’t it?” Octavia asks as the door is closed and latched. “We’re actually going to earth?” 

“We are,” Raven has her hands gripping the controls, eyes scanning over the many knobs and displays. Clarke hopes she knows how to read those things. “We’re fucking crazy.” 

“At least we’re crazy together,” Octavia seems to be a bubble of optimism, which Clarke would be grateful for if not for the way her stomach was rolling. “That’s more than I’ve had for the last 16 years.” 

“Pressure’s stabilizing, engines are up and running,” Raven flipped a switch and the pod jolted slightly. “As soon as the door opens, we’re out of here.” 

“Raven,” Clarke said as the pod jolted again, clearly being moved into position for launch. “What’re the chance that we’ll even make it to the ground?” 

“If anyone else built this thing? I’d say about 35%.” 

“And since you built it?” 

“70%.” 

“Great,” Clarke muttered, her hands clenching as the pod shuttered violently around them. 

“Hey, she doubled out chances,” Octavia offered cheerily. “I’ll take it.” 

“Good because that’s all we’ve got,” Raven nodded her head towards the window where Clarke could see the double bay doors opening. “Launching in three..two...one.” 

Pushed back into her seat by the force of their launch, Clarke barely had time to pray to any god that might be listening that they somehow made it through this. 

~

The journey to the ground was rougher than anticipated, One of the two parachutes failed to deploy which sent the three passengers into a dangerous tailspin. A harsh ripping sound let them know that the outside of the pod wasn’t holding up to the pressure of reentry the way they’d hoped it had. 

“Remember that 70% percent chance I said we had earlier?” Raven yelled over the roaring in her own ears. Two grunts of acknowledgment came from her companions. “Better drop that down to 55%.” 

“That’s not very encouraging Reyes.” 

“It wasn’t meant to be encouraging Griffin,” Raven called back, grunting as she attempted to keep the pod as stable as possible. “It was meant to be realistic.” 

Clarke huffed, a sound that might have been a laugh or a groan. Raven chose to see it as a laugh. 

“We’re coming in hot, brace yourselves,” Raven called a moment later, gripping the controls tighter in her hands. Clarke had a moment to be thankful for the helmets they were wearing, certain that she would have already suffered brain damage from the number of times her head had collided with the metal walls of the pod during their free fall if they didn’t have the extra layer of protection. As it was, all she was really only concerned about having a major headache by the time they reached the ground. 

“Yeah, we’re definitely crazy for doing this,” Octavia grumbled loudly. Clarke found herself wanting to laugh though she held the sound in. 

“You make it sound like we had a choice,” Clarke called back. 

“We did, this or dying in space,” Octavia’s sounds like she would have shrugged but Clarke can’t turn her head enough to see the motion. “Somehow I still think we made the right choice.” 

“Let’s see if you’re still saying that once we hit the ground.” Raven turned her head slightly in both directions to look at her companions one at a time. “Hold on to something.” 

Gripping the seat on either side of her legs, Clarke felt her shoulders rising with the deep breath she took and let her eyes fall closed for a moment. She held a picture of the earth in her mind, the view that she’d seen over and over again with every moonrise. Earth had been her dream for as long as Clarke could remember. A dream that she never thought would come true, a dream that had always seemed more than a little impossible. 

When her eyes open again, Clarke sees the ground rushing towards the pod in a way that is far too fast to be safe. 

When her eyes close again, Clarke has no control of the action and the world falls black around her. 

~

The first thing Clarke registers when she wakes up is the sound of coughing. The second the smell of something burning. The third is an unfamiliar voice speaking in an even more unfamiliar language. 

When she opens her eyes, Clarke sees that the visor of her helmet has broken which would explain the pain that she has above her eyes. She’d be surprised if they hadn’t gotten some kind of injury given the rough nature of their landing. Clarke pushes what remains of her helmet off of her head, groaning as she does. There’s sharp pain the smarts in her shoulder, hindering the movement of her left arm. Another cough sounds. 

“Raven?” Clarke asks in a voice that is much shakier than she intended it to be. “Octavia?” 

“I’m okay,” Octavia responds through another cough. There’s a soft groan that follows the voice. “I-I think something’s wrong with my leg.” 

“Can you move it?” Clarke asked, mentally taking stock of her own body. Besides the pain in her left arm and a stinging sensation above her eyebrow, Clarke feels okay. She thinks she’ll be able to maneuver out of the pod if she can get her arm in the right position. 

“Yeah,” Octavia says after a moment, “yeah but it hurts.” 

“Okay, we can work with that.” Clarke nods and instantly regrets the motion as her vision swims around her. “Raven?” 

“Here,” Raven’s voice is soft. “I’m here, I’m okay. I think.” 

“Good, that’s good,” Clarke takes a deep breath and then freezes as the smell of something burning reaches her again. “Do you guys smell that?” 

“The wires must have fried when the paneling came off,” Raven has her helmet off now as well and Clarke can see the gash at her hairline. “We should be fine as long as there’s no smoke.” 

“Which we can’t tell if there is or not,” Clarke gestures to where the window is supposed to be. The space is covered by something, possibly the parachute that had gone off but Clarke can’t tell from inside. 

“Better get out of here quick then,” Raven summarizes deftly, reaching for something on the board. There’s a short hiss like the cabin is depressurizing. “Can you reach the door?” 

“Yeah,” Clarke answers even though she’s not quite sure of that yet. Her arm is throbbing painfully and it’ll take a bit of maneuvering in the small cabin for her to get into the position she’d need to be in to reach the latch with her uninjured arm. “I think I can-” 

Clarke is cut off as the latch is harshly pulled open from the outside, automatically jerking back in response to the sunlight that floods the small cabin. A hand reaches inside, the majority of the skin covered by a fingerless glove but enough left visible that Clarke can tell that the hand, while worn and dirty, is too small to be a man’s. As the one closest to the door, Clarke is the first thing that the hand comes into contact with and she can’t help the sound of pain that she makes as the hand clamps around her shoulder. There’s a brief pause that almost feels like hesitation before the hand begins to tug on Clarke’s shoulder insistently. 

“Don’t fight it!” Raven calls out as Clarke tries in vain to move away from the grip on her shoulder. “Look!” 

Through the latch, behind the shadow-like figure currently pulling on Clarke, she can just barely make a rising plume of smoke above them. 

“The buckle’s stuck,” Clarke says, pointing at it with her good hand. Raven unlatches herself quickly and moves to do the same for Clarke. As soon as the buckle is undone, Clarke finds herself being roughly hauled out of the pod. A second hand joins the first on the opposite shoulder, grip just as strong, and Clarke feels herself lifted from her seat. 

She groans again in pain at the grip on her shoulder and stumbles slightly as her feet are placed on the ground. Blinking back the tears that want to fall as Clarke tries to get her bearings, she’s barely aware of the figures around her. Her focus is only on one of them, the one holding onto her arms. Clarke follows the hand on her left shoulder up over a leather-clad arm to an almost decorative shoulder plate and then further up, past a slender neck until her gaze finally comes to rest on the most piercing green eyes she’s ever seen. 

The woman holding her up is young, probably closer to Raven’s age than Clarke’s, but there’s an air of power around her. She looks calm, confident. Like a warrior. 

Clarke has never been more shocked at the sight of another person in her life. 

The woman says something in that foreign language, her voice somehow softer than Clarke had expected. 

“What?” Clarke hears herself ask though she doesn’t remember instructing her mouth to move. 

“Clarke?” Raven is climbing out of the pod, wincing slightly as she does. She looks a little frantic as she glances around their landing spot and it prompts Clarke to look around them as well. 

She’s immediately proved right in her assumption that this woman was some kind of warrior when she takes in the rest of the grounders around her. All of them are dressed in the same kind of leather armor as the woman still holding Clarke’s arms. They were some kind of black paint around their eyes, all of them with their own distinct design, and they all carry at least one blade. 

“Clarke, Octavia can’t get out. Her leg, I think it’s broken.” Raven looked like she wanted to turn back to the girl still within the pod, but she wasn’t quite willing to take her eyes off of the group around them. 

“Octavia,” Clarke calls her name and hears a grunt in response. She tries to move out of the woman’s grasp but stops as the pressure on her arm increases. Fleetingly, Clarke notices that the woman had only squeezed her right arm, the uninjured one. Clarke turns her gaze back to those green eyes. “We have another friend inside. She can’t get out.” 

“Clarke, we’re smoking here,” Raven calls to her loudly, pulling attention to both her and to the plume of darkening smoke rising above them. “She needs to get out, now!” 

“Please,” Clarke begs the woman holding her. “Please let us get out friend.” 

Clarke has no way of knowing if this woman even understands a word she’s saying, but she thinks there must be something as the woman says something again. The words are directed to someone behind Clarke and a moment later, Clarke sees a burly male warrior move towards the pod and slip inside. 

“Let him take you, Octavia!” Clarke calls out, just in case the girl tries to fight him. 

“C’mon, c’mon,” Raven is muttering to herself, watching the pod closely. She’s looking for a leak. If the wires are damaged and that’s what’s burning, they should have plenty of time to get Octavia out and away from the pod before it goes up in flames. If there’s a leak, that time frame decreases greatly. 

A minute later, the man emerges with Octavia in his grasp. She’s cradled against his chest in a bridal carry and Clarke finds herself breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of her. The relief is short-lived. 

“Shit, Clarke!” Raven has finally noticed the growing puddle of rocket fuel that’s spreading out from around the pod. They have maybe two minutes before it reaches the sparking wires. “We’ve got to move, now! This thing is going to blow.” 

“What about the radio?” Clarke calls back, still locked in place by the woman’s arms and gaze. Clarke finds that she can’t look away. “We have to contact the Ark.” 

“There’s no time,” Raven is walking towards them now and Clarke sees the warriors around them change positions, some even reaching for weapons. “If we don’t leave now, we’re all space dust.” 

“Can we be space dust if we’re not in space?” Octavia asks, still held up in the grounder’s embrace. 

“Does it matter?” Raven looks at the warrior holding onto Clarke. “Lady, we need to go now before we all burn to death.” 

There’s a flicker of something in the warrior’s eyes and she nods almost imperceptibly. Clarke probably wouldn’t have noticed if she wasn’t staring right at her. As one, the warriors around them relax from their positions and begin to move, turning to the woods around them. 

“Wait, the radio,” Clarke moves to pull away from the woman holding her arms, surprised when she lets go easily. “I can get it.” 

“Clarke, there’s no time. I can make another one if we can find the parts.” Raven tries to pull her back but Clarke keeps moving. She didn’t realize that the woman had pulled her so far away from the pod. She had thought that Raven sounded like she was yelling because of the ringing in her ears, not because she was actually yelling. 

“There’s no guarantee that you’ll find the parts, Raven!” Clarke keeps moving. 

“Yeah, well, there also wasn’t supposed to be people down here but look around! Clarke, it’s not safe. Clarke!” 

The pod is exploding before Clarke can register what’s happening. She can feel the heat of it on her face and then she’s being pulled back by the same strong grip on her arms. Overwhelmed by the pain in her arm at the rough movements and the wild turn of events that her life had taken on that day, Clarke is unconscious again before she can see those piercing green eyes looking down at her in curiosity and just the smallest bit of wonder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed!


	3. A New Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heda Lexa wonders about her curious reaction to the Sky People and Clarke in particular. The three invaders officially meet the warriors who saved them. 
> 
> Clarke worries over the failure of their mission.

It was easier to convert a small portion of the infirmary to a holding cell than it was to convert several holding cells into makeshift infirmaries. That is the official reason that Lexa gives to her warriors when she instructs them to take the three invaders to the infirmary instead of the rooms beneath the tower in Polis. It is an order that is followed with complaint or question, as is appropriate for any order that comes directly from Heda, by the lowest standing guards that had been on her service. It is an order that is not free from questioning by those of higher ranking, namely two of Heda’s generals. 

Anya and Gustus are both very vocal in their mistrust of the three girls that had landed, almost literally, on top of their diplomatic party on their return to Polis from TonDC. Lexa can see the value in their arguments and tells them as much. They are right to be wary of these people who have fallen from the sky, but Lexa does not believe they must be treated as criminals. From the brief interaction she had with them, Lexa assumes that these three girls hold almost no threat to her people. They are clearly weak and untrained, their bodies pale and too skinny. Her guards would have no trouble subduing them if they attempted to fight back for any reason, but Lexa doesn’t expect much of a fight from them. 

“They are invaders, Heda,” Gusts says heatedly, as heatedly as he will ever get with his Heda. His tone is still formal and Lexa can hear the respect he carries for her in the way he speaks. “To keep them in the open-” 

“They are not wandering around Polis unattended, Gustus,” Lexa halts his coming protest with a wave of her hand. “They are injured and being tended to, with enough guards around them to quell any issues. They will not be leaving the infirmary.” 

“I do not question their ability to escape or your ability to keep them here, Heda. I simply wonder if it is best to have them in such an easily accessible place.” 

“Explain.” 

“Many of our people will have seen the fire falling from the sky, they will have questions. The answer to those questions lies in the infirmary where any number of dangers could enter. Do not forget the whispers of Azgeda spies in the area around TonDC.” Gustus ducks his head low as a sign of respect to his commander. Lexa looks at him in consideration, twirling a sharpened dagger in her hands. 

“Perhaps they should be moved to somewhere more secure,” Anya agrees with her fellow general, remaining unflinching as Lexa’s gaze turns to her. “Gustus is correct when he says that many will come for answers. Tripling the amount of guards usually around the infirmary will only lead to encouraging spies to stick their noses in there.” 

“I will take it under advisement,” Lexa said pointedly, signaling that the conversation was over. “In any case, nothing can be done now until they are awake. What do the healers say?” 

“The bird has already woken once,” Gustus explains. “She seemed angry about being knocked out by one of our warriors but calmed when she saw the others there with her, relatively unharmed. The one they called Octavia is expected to wake up within the next few hours as she was only unconscious due to the medicine she was given on the way here.” 

Lexa nodded her understanding, not surprised at the turn of events. When the vessel had exploded, the one that had been called Raven had nearly gone into a panic as she tried to reach the last member of their group, the girl she had called Clarke. The only way to get her to stop fighting was to knock her unconscious, which was done swiftly by a member of her guard. 

“And what of the one called Clarke?” 

“They expect she will wake in her own time. Her injuries are easily treatable, as are the injuries of the other two. Clarke seemed to be the worst of the three. She had a dislocated shoulder and a few burns on her legs from the explosion.” Lexa ignores the way Gustus’ eyes flicker down to the white bandages wrapped around Lexa’s own knuckles, a byproduct of Lexa herself pulling the injured Sky Girl from the wreckage. “They believe the collapse was a product of her being overwhelmed rather than from her injuries.” 

“Keep me apprised of their status. I am to be notified as soon as all three of them are awake.” 

“Sha, Heda,” both Anya and Gustus offer Lexa a short bow in respect before being dismissed with a wave of Lexa’s hand. 

As the door swings closed behind her two most trusted general’s, Lexa slumps back into her throne. She stabs the dagger into the arm of her seat and then focuses her gaze on the bandages wrapped around her hands. 

Lexa’s glad that none of her guards had questioned her actions when they approached the pod because Lexa’s not sure she has an explanation for what she did. Certainly it would have made more sense to send one of her warriors to pull open the door and check on the people within. Lexa should have remained seated on her horse, poised to either attack or retreat as the situation called for it. Lexa’s ability to keep a clear mind in any situation was why she had lasted so long as Commander. It was the reason that she was able to see past her personal pain and recognize that letting Azgeda into her coalition was the best thing for all of her people. It was the reason why Lexa had never again let her guard down. She wouldn’t subject herself to that kind of pain again. She knows she wouldn’t survive it a second time. 

Which makes her question why she was so willing to risk her own life for a woman that she had never met before. 

All that Lexa can say is that it was instinct that had compelled her into action, pure and simple. When she saw the pod on the ground, after she recovered for the shock of nearly being crushed by said pod, every part of her told Lexa that she needed to get them out. She could feel her soul reaching out towards whoever was within the pod, for once her own spirit and the Spirit of the Commander that resided inside of her working together rather than pulling her apart. She was sure that there was no one more surprised by her actions than she herself, except for perhaps the person who had been inside the pod. 

Lexa can’t explain the way she felt when she had the woman free from the vessel and standing before her. There is no explanation for the way her spirit seemed to cry out, rejoicing as Lexa looked into the strange woman’s eyes. There were so many emotions there, fear and adrenaline and pain and even more buried behind all of that. They swirled in a beautiful storm, dancing across the blue of Clarke’s eyes in the same way that lightning danced across the sky. Lexa felt as if she could breathe again, like she had been holding her breath for far too long and Clarke was the fresh air she didn’t know she needed. 

The reaction is all the more puzzling. 

Lexa isn’t as surprised by the three girls' arrival as she is shocked by her reaction to it. For many weeks, Lexa had been having dreams of a structure in the stars. It wasn’t like anything Lexa had seen before but resembled something from the Old World legends she had heard as a child. The images of the structure were often followed by the sensation that she was falling, spiraling through the air in such a way that when she woke, Lexa half expected to be sprawled across the ground in the middle of a forest rather than safe in her fur-covered bed in Polis. Lexa had taken the dreams to mean that there was something coming from the stars, but she had rather expected some kind of message. Perhaps a fallen star. She didn’t expect the message to be that there were people living among the stars, but that was the only explanation that made any kind of sense. 

Slipping to the ground before her throne, poised for meditation, Lexa let her mind wander back into the part of her spirit where the other Commander’s dwelled. Again images filled her mind, a spinning structure hidden in the stars, and then the sensation of falling. Lexa sighed and looked deeper, searching for a greater meaning. For a long time, all that Lexa was aware of was the rise and fall of her own chest and she breathed deeply. 

Then, finally, another image flashed in her mind. The image was only there for a moment, just long enough to leave an imprint behind her eyelids. A mountain’s ridge, a great shadow fading away from the ground below it. 

“Heda,” a messenger rushed into the throne room, pulling Lexa from her meditation. Lexa kept her eyes closed in an attempt to not let her anger show. “Heda, the invaders are awake. They await your presence.” 

Lexa nodded once in acknowledgment of the message and opened her eyes just in time to see the messenger rise from a bow. 

“I will be there shortly.” 

“Sha, Heda.” Just as quickly as he arrived, the messenger was gone. Lexa climbed to her feet, lifted her dagger from the arm of her throne and slid it into the hidden sheath on her hip, silently contemplating the message she’d be given. Only one thing was clear to her. These invaders, these Sky People, they would have some effect on the mountain’s shadow. 

Only time would tell if that effect would be good or bad. 

~

The bed she was placed on was soft yet sturdy, the material unfamiliar against her skin. Clarke can hear quiet chatter around her. Thankfully, the language being spoken is English and not whatever tongue had come out of the warrior’s mouth when they were pulled from the wreckage so Clarke can at least understand the words that are being said. 

It’s Raven and Octavia who are talking though Clarke can’t pinpoint exactly where they are in whatever room they’ve been placed in. She can hear the curiosity in their tones and a lack of anything resembling fear. Apprehensiveness, yes, but no fear. It’s a curious reaction, Clarke thinks. Here they are, the only three of members of their people on earth and in the company of what most of their population would probably dub savages without a second thought and Clarke can’t help but feel grateful for these people, the Grounders. 

They prove that the earth is survivable. They’ve been here all this time and from the limited time Clarke has spent with them, they seem to have established some kind of culture here. They are not only living on the ground but thriving. These grounders are proof that despite how doomed this mission might have seemed when it started, Clarke, Raven, and Octavia can be successful. They can let their people know that it is safe to finally come home. 

All of which would be a lot easier if Clarke could open her eyes. 

She must have made some kind of noise because the chatter around her ceases. Steeling her nerves, Clarke pinches her eyebrows together and then finally, slowly opens her eyes. 

The room they are in is filled with sunlight streaming in through window-like gaps in the walls. A thin curtain hangs over a doorway in front of them and Clarke can see the shadows of what she assumes to be guards on the other side of that. Her eyes slide closed again. 

“Clarke?” It’s Raven’s voice that reaches her first and then there’s a hand resting on her right arm. Clarke forces her eyes open and sees Raven leaning over her, brow furrowed in concern. “Clarke?” 

“I’m okay,” Clarke eases herself into a sitting position, wincing slightly when she moves the wrong way and puts a little bit of pressure on her shoulder. It’s then that she realizes her left arm has been stabilized by some kind of compression bandage that winds around her torso, keeping her arm bent against her chest. The shirt she’d been wearing had been removed but her chest was still covered with the standard issue Ark bra she wore, the additional bindings placed on the outside of the garment. She also notices that her boots and pants had been taken off and she can feel a pulling sensation on her upper right leg. “Where are we?” 

“We don’t know,” Octavia answers and Clarke looks over to her left where Octavia is situated on a cot similar to the one that Clarke is on. Octavia has some bandages around her right leg, which was elevated slightly by a small stack of pillows. “I passed out right after you did and Raven…” Octavia trails off, giggling as Raven groans. Clarke looks back over at her. 

“Raven?” 

“I may have been reluctant to go with our new friends and tried to fight them off.” 

“It wasn’t a very long fight.” 

“Shut up, Octavia,” Raven sends a short glare in the direction of the young girl. “Let’s just say I lost the fight and move on. The point is that we have no idea where we are, except for somewhere on the ground.” 

“We made it.” Clarke says in amazement, looking at her unlikely companions in turn. “We made it to the ground.” 

“We did,” Raven can’t help the smile that spreads across her lips as Octavia laughs joyfully. “Nevermind that we almost died getting here.” 

“The key word there is almost,” Octavia looks like she could have been jumping for joy if her leg wasn’t injured. Even with the injury, Clarke is kind of surprised to see the girl sitting in one place. Granted, Clarke doesn’t know all that much about Octavia yet but she doesn’t seem like the type to be happy staying in one place. Clarke looks back at Raven, checking for any obvious injuries like the ones she and Octavia are sporting. Raven seems the best off out of all of them with only a small bandage near her hairline. 

“What’s the situation with these?” Clarke makes a gesture with her good hand towards Octavia’s raised leg and her own immobal arm. 

“I’m not sure actually, whoever patched you guys up was gone by the time I woke up. Aren’t you the one who practically grew up in Medical?” 

“That doesn’t mean that I know what injuries we have right now. I was in shock and then unconscious so I couldn’t really diagnos us.” Clarke rolled her eyes. 

“Alright by my best guess you,” Raven pointed at Octavia, “have either a broken or sprained ankle. And you,” she turned her finger towards Clarke, “have a dislocated shoulder and some minor burns on your leg.” 

“Burns?” Clarke asked, moving the blanket (fur?) that was covering her leg and finding a crisp bandage covering part of her thigh. She ran her fingers over the material as her mind played back the last several hours of her life. Once her brain caught up to her current situation, Clarke wanted to kick herself for forgetting something as important as a full-fledged explosion. “The ship, the radio…” 

“Yeah we made it here and we’re alive, but we have no way to contact the Ark and let them know.” Raven held up her wrist where Clarke could see her silver medical bracelet still there. The action prompted Clarke to look at her own wrist and she was relieved to see her bracelet still latched around her right arm. Her relief was short-lived as Raven continued to speak. “Both of ours are busted, chances are yours is too.” 

Clarke sighed, disappointed, as she looked closer and realized that the small green light on the underside of the bracelet, the one that was supposed to blink in time with her pulse, wasn’t shining anymore. 

"Great." Clarke glared at the useless bracelet as if it had personally offended her. 

"Look at the bright side," Octavia said cheerfully. Clarke and Raven turned to her with twin expectant expressions. "We could have blown up and died a fiery death." 

"Or we could have been rescued by like cannibals or something," Raven agreed after a moment, then frowned thoughtfully. "These people aren't cannibals, right?" 

"Why would they save us if they're going to kill us anyway?" Octavia adjusted herself on the bed, wincing a pit when she pulled her ankle. "That seems like too much extra work." 

"Maybe we could just ask them," Clarke's voice had a ringing of curiosity and the smallest amount of surprise that made Octavia and Raven both turn towards where she was looking. 

Four warriors stood in the doorway, a woman who was clearly the leader at the head of the formation. They seemed to be dressed down compared to what they had been wearing in the woods before. No heavy coats made of fur in sight, instead a complicated wrap of leather wove around their bodies in what Clarke assumed was meant to be some kind of armor. Only the woman at the front of the group wore anything over that, a shoulder guard with a red sash attached to it. They were also still armed, again all but the woman with a blade hanging from either their hip or across their backs, though Clarke would be surprised if she didn’t have some kind of weapon as well. As it were, Clarke found herself more distracted by the woman’s eyes than she was curious about her possession of a weapon. 

“You’re the one who pulled me out of the pod,” Clarke said, a hint of confusion making its way into her voice. This woman had effectively saved her life - twice, Clarke noted, seeing the bandages that covered the woman’s hand and realizing that she must have pulled Clarke away from the explosion as well - and Clarke had no idea why she had done it. The woman’s expression remained carefully impassive as she replied. 

“You’re the one who dropped from the sky and destroyed part of my forest.” 

“Technically,” Raven spoke up, her gaze flickering back and forth between Clarke and the other woman. “Destroying the forest was an accident.” 

“Accidental or not,” one of the other warriors spoke up, a tall and slender woman with dirty blonde hair. “The three of you are still invaders on our lands.” 

“We are sorry about that,” Clarke tears her eyes away from the woman in the center for the first time since the grounders walked in and looked around the room curiously. “We didn’t know that there were survivors on earth.” 

“We thought there was too much radiation for humans to live here, that’s what we were taught on the Ark.” 

“Ark?” The tall woman asks, the word rolling off her tongue in an unfamiliar manner. 

“A space station in orbit around the earth,” Raven explained quickly, seeming to not notice the way the grounder's confusion only grew as she spoke. “The last of humanity was meant to wait in the sky until we could return to the ground.” She eyed the warriors warily. “Apparently, we’re late to the party.” 

“You lived among the stars?” The leader asks, her gaze still lingering on Clarke before she turned to Raven. “There are more of you?” 

“Yes, and yes, about two thousand of us by the last count I saw.” 

“But they won’t be joining us down here for a while, if ever,” Octavia held up her wrist to showcase the medical alert blanket. Clarke almost wanted to laugh as the three of the four warriors looked almost frightened at the sight of the bracelet. 

“Why?” 

“We were sent down here to see if the earth is survivable,” Clarke repeated. “After we landed, we were meant to make contact with our people and let them know that we survived and the radiation wouldn’t harm us. Since our ship exploded and these stopped working,” Clarke held up her own bracelet as an example, noticing the lead warrior’s eyes looking at the device, and Clarke, intently. “We have no way of contacting our people. They will believe that we died, most likely because of radiation.” 

“Because they believe you dead, they will send no more of your people.” It wasn’t a question though it was worded like one but Clarke still shook her head, her gaze meeting green eyes again. 

“Not exactly, they might try again after a while. The Ark is dying, our people are running out of air. If they don’t come to the ground, they will die among the stars.” 

“An invasion force,” the third guard, a fierce looking man with a tattoo etched across the right side of his face, spat the words. He continued speaking then in the same strang tongue that they had used at the pod. Clarke couldn’t make sense of the words he said, though she noticed that he bowed his head slightly when he said the word ‘Heda.’ 

The first warrior replied in the same language, her tone clipped and short. The man looked as if he wanted to protest but was silenced by a raise of the woman’s hand. 

“Sha, Heda,” the man said in response when asked a question again. “It will be as you command.” 

“Clarke, Raven, and Octavia of the Sky People,” the first woman began ceremonially. “I am Heda Lexa kom Trikru, Commander of the 12 Clans. You are invaders in my lands, as such you will be kept here until we determine what else can be done with you. If at any time you attempt to leave without permission, your life is forfeit to me.” 

“You're imprisoning us?” Octavia asked, the hopeful expression she’d worn earlier replaced by dread. It seemed that she had simply traded one prison for another. 

“You do not question Heda.” The man said fiercely, taking a menacing step forward. Again, Lexa stopped him with a raise of her hand. 

“Enough, Gustus, return to your post,” Lexa dismissed the brute man, sending him back to the throne room with her other personal guards. The man left, scowling the whole way. “Healers, are they well enough to leave?” 

“Sha, Heda,” a short, stocky woman replied. Clarke hadn’t even noticed her entering the room. Though she was obviously a healer, she was also dressed in the same sort of leather armor as Lexa, Gustus, and the others. A healer and a warrior. “They will recover soon enough with rest and food.” 

Clarke’s stomach rumbled with the mention of food, suddenly ravenous. She didn’t remember the last time she had eaten. She wasn’t really sure how long they’d been on earth either, since they had crashed in the middle of the forest and presumably had to travel a bit to reach this place. 

“Very well, the three of you will be escorted to your quarters.” Lexa called for a set of three guards who came into the room quickly and waited. “Food will be brought to you. You are not to leave the room you are taken too unless I call for you.” 

“Thank you, Commander,” Clarke said before either of her companions could argue against the woman. She had a feeling that Octavia especially wouldn’t be very receptive to being locked up again. Lexa inclined her head in Clarke’s direction, said something in the language that Clarke didn’t know and then swept gracefully from the room. 

Before anything could be said, the healer that had spoken to Lexa moved towards Clarke’s bed with a bundle of clothes. 

“Dress in these. They should fit well enough.” 

Clarke took the offered clothes and pulled the shirt over her head, with a little help from the healer to get her injured arm through, before standing up. The shirt she was given was a little too long for her and so it fell about mid-way down her thighs. Clarke was grateful for the extra length as it kept her from exposing anymore of her body to the small group of guards still waiting for them in the room. Once Clarke had the pants on, mindful of her bandages, the healer spoke to the guards in their shared tongue and bustled away. 

“Come,” one of the guards spoke. He was a little shorter than the other two guards but no less bulky, his expression neither welcoming nor damning. He turned and led the way out of the infirmary once he was sure that the three Sky People would follow him. The other two guards fell into step behind the three invaders, effectively silencing any thoughts of running. Not that any of them were actually thinking of running. 

The three girls were silent as they were led down a winding hallway and then along a staircase that wrapped two corners before they stepped onto another floor. Clarke had been expecting metal bars and empty cells and so is shocked when they enter what looks like a common residential area. There are windows and doors line either side of the hall, all of them pulled closed. Clarke has the feeling that this floor is relatively unused and that’s why Lexa had them put here. No one would check for invaders in uninhabited rooms. It makes sense from a tactical point of view, Clarke assumes that Lexa would be fielding questions about the pod already. There was no need to tell her people about the people inside the pod, especially since there won’t be anymore people joining them. 

Clarke barely pays attention to the room they are shown too and she doesn’t acknowledge the guards reminder to stay put unless called for. As the guards close the door to Clarke’s home for the foreseeable future, all Clarke can think about is how horribly they have failed. 

They had one thing to do when they made it to the ground, one task to accomplish. Contact the Ark somehow. The radio in the pod would have been the simplest solution, the medical bracelets a backup. But the radio was blown up and the bracelets were dead. They had no way to contact the Ark. No way to contact Clarke’s parents. 

“Don’t go there Griffin,” Raven’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts and Clarke came back to the present. She was seated on the edge of a small bed, one of four in the room. Octavia and Raven had claimed the beds on either side of her and were sitting as well, facing Clarke. Her thoughts must have been written all over her face if they prompted Raven to speak. 

“We failed.” 

“That wasn’t our fault. The pod exploded, we were lucky to survive,” Raven said. “And the bracelets were great but they were just a prototype that hadn’t been tested before. It’s not our fault that they didn’t work as long as we needed them too.” 

“They’re going to die up there.” Clarke felt the burn of tears in her eyes. “My parents are going to die because we failed.” 

“No they won’t. Clarke, they still have a year, at least, to figure something out. Maybe Jake can fix the Ark or maybe they’ll come down to the ground anyway.” 

“We all know that this mission was a risk and since it failed, the Council won’t take the risk again.” Clarke wiped away the tears that managed to fall. “Even if they fix the flaw, we’ll still never see our people again. It’s just us here.” 

“You know what that means?” Octavia piped up from Clarke’s other side. Both Clarke and Raven looked at her questioningly. “We’re in this together, the three of us. And I know you guys don’t have any experience with siblings but I do. Having a brother is great and I’ll miss Bellamy like crazy, but I’ve always wanted a sister.” Octavia offered a small grin. “I guess I could take two, if I had too.” 

“You bet, you’re not leaving me out of this.” Raven agreed, pulling the smallest of smiles from Clarke. “See, we’re not alone. And honestly, once we’re let go or whatever, if we can find the parts I can build a radio. Our mission isn’t over yet.” 

“Yeah, if this is how they treat their prisoners, I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” Octavia agreed, leaning back against the bed. It was, objectively, the most comfortable mattress she’d ever laid on. 

“It’s a whole new world for us Clarke,” Raven mimicked the youngest girl as she laid back. “We’ll find a way to contact the Ark. I promise.” 

Sighing as she too leaned back, Clarke hoped that her friends were right, about everything. It may take longer than necessary, but Clarke had to believe that they would complete their mission. She had to hope that she’d see her parents again. She wouldn’t let the last time they saw one another remain as such, a moment fraught with worry and fear. 

Clarke would hope against all hope that she’d see her people again, all the while ignoring that small voice in the back of her head that questioned if she really wanted too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Please do leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!


End file.
